Tag: south

South Africa’s traditional medicines should be used in modern health care

Traditional medicines are part of the cultural heritage of many Africans. About 80%
of the African continent’s population use these medicines for healthcare.

Other reasons include affordability, accessibility, patient dissatisfaction with conventional medicine, and the common misconception that “natural” is “safe”.

The growing recognition of traditional medicine resulted in the first World Health Organization global summit on the topic, in August 2023, with the theme “Health and Wellbeing for All”.

Traditional medicines are widely used in South Africa, with up to 60% of South Africans estimated to be reliant on traditional medicine as a primary source of healthcare .

Conventional South African healthcare facilities struggle to cope with extremely high patient numbers. The failure to meet the basic standards of healthcare, with increasing morbidity and mortality rates, poses a threat to the South African economy.

In my opinion, as a qualified pharmacist and academic with a research focus on traditional medicinal plant use in South Africa, integrating traditional medicine practices into modern healthcare systems can harness centuries of indigenous knowledge, increasing treatment options and provide better healthcare.

Recognition of traditional medicine as an alternative or joint source of healthcare to that of standard, conventional medicine has proven challenging. This is due to the absence of scientific research establishing and documenting the safety and effectiveness of traditional medicines, along with the lack of regulatory controls.

What are traditional medicines?

Traditional medicine encompasses a number of healthcare practices aimed at either preventing or treating acute or chronic complaints through the application of indigenous knowledge, beliefs and approaches. It incorporates the use of plant, animal and mineral-based products. Plant-derived products form the majority of treatment regimens.

Traditional medicine practices also have a place in ritualistic activities and communicating with ancestors.

South Africa is rich in indigenous medicinal fauna and flora,

Health literacy strengths and challenges of people in New South Wales prisons: a cross-sectional survey using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) | BMC Public Health

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  • Emergency department use and geospatial variation in social determinants of health: a pilot study from South Carolina | BMC Public Health

    Study sample

    The study sample included Prisma Health patients, aged 18 years or older, engaged in ambulatory care and condition management, inpatient case management, or community health in South Carolina’s central (Midlands) and northwestern (Upstate) regions. This study population constitutes initial efforts to pilot the SDoH screening within the health system.

    Data sources

    Prisma Health is the largest non-profit health system in South Carolina and treats about 1.4 million patients annually. Its geographic footprint covers about half of the state’s total population [32]. Census data based on the system’s geographic coverage describes the areas served by the health system as predominantly White (63.4%) with the second most common racial or ethnic group being Black (26.7%). Of individuals in this geographic area, 29.0% have a bachelor’s degree or higher (versus 32.9% nationally), 13.8% would be considered persons in poverty (versus 11.4% nationally) and 13.2% are without health insurance (versus 10.2% nationally). Median household income is $54,864 versus $64,994 nationally and areas covered have population density of 332.6 per square mile (< 500 per square mile and less than 2,500 people being rural) [32].

    The data for this study came from the health system’s piloting of a digital SDoH screening and referral platform in 2020, called NowPow. NowPow is a software program, embedded within the electronic medical record (EMR), that matches patients with SDoH-related needs to local resources based on their demographic information (e.g., distance from home).

    This study uses three data sources: SDoH screening information from NowPow, electronic medical record (EMR) data and geocoded patient addresses. This study was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Prisma Health (IRB# Pro00105482) and approved as human subjects exempt. Informed consent was waived by the IRB committee, and the study was conducted in accordance to all relevant IRB guidelines.

    Data was collected for

    The Sani Sisters’ South Asian-Inspired Fashion on TikTok

    Fashion is synonymous with self-expression, and Niki and Ritika Shamdasani created an entire clothing brand out of their need to feel seen in the fashion industry. When a search for outfits to wear to an Indian wedding left them empty-handed, the sisters set to work creating their own fashion brand tailored to their personal styles. Sani, an abbreviated version of their last name, is a formalwear brand inspired by their South Asian culture. From the age-old dilemma “I have nothing to wear,” the sisters created a sustainable clothing company that blends culture and community.

    “What we found on TikTok was not just an Indian American community. It was a community interested in the culture as whole.”

    “We didn’t have a huge community of Indian Americans or South Asian Americans,” Niki tells POPSUGAR of being born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, after their parents emigrated from India. Growing up in their small, predominately white hometown, the Shamdasani sisters felt out of place. It wasn’t until a family wedding sent them searching for traditional South Asian wedding guest outfits that they realized the importance of making South Asian clothing available to Western consumers.

    Inspired by their personal dilemma, the sisters created a line of wedding-specific formalwear. “For us, it just made so much sense to start off in this category, bring everyone into the culture in a way that hadn’t been done before, in a way that felt accessible and approachable,” Niki says.

    They’ve seen their biggest success on TikTok. On the platform, the sisters maintain a dedicated fan base that has made their business “100 times stronger than before” and influenced the way they evolve their company. “What we found on TikTok was not just an Indian American community,” Ritika says. “It was a community interested in the culture

    Used Clothes Pollute Global South

    Market traders at Gikomba Market in Nairobi sell their wares. The second-hand clothing market directly employs roughly two million people in Kenya. (Photo: Courtesy of Changing Markets Foundation and Clean Up Kenya)

    In wealthy countries, cheap “fast fashion” clothing is often thrown away after being worn just seven or eight times. And while donating those clothes may feel like a good deed, they often end up as waste that pollutes developing countries. Veena Holkar, director of Wildlight Global, spoke with Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb.


    At a glance: data protection and management of health data in South Korea

    Data protection and management

    Definition of ‘health data’

    What constitutes ‘health data’? Is there a definition of ‘anonymised’ health data?

    No law specifically defines ‘health data’ per se, but ‘health information’ is categorised as a type of sensitive information under article 23 of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). According to the Guidelines for Use of Health-Medical Data co-published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and PIPA in September 2020, ‘health information’ includes but is not limited to the following:

    • medical records and electronic medical records under the Medical Service Act (MSA), and other records produced in hospitals that indicate or easily enable the indication of medical treatment details (eg, hospital receipts containing medical treatment details);
    • data for insurance claims collected by the National Health Insurance Service, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and other private insurance companies, data related to health, illness, injury, etc, used in the subscription design and ancillary data;
    • health examination data, health examination result data;
    • health status information diagnosed by a physician, measured by medical devices, or identified or estimated through estimation of insurance claim records, other algorithms, etc; and
    • information collected through medical devices to measure health status or health habits (eg, number of steps, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood sugar, blood pressure and electrocardiogram).

     

    In particular, if information that is normally not considered health information is used for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or management of diseases, such information will also be viewed as health information (eg, a voice recording is not health information under normal circumstances, but if the risk of disease is predicted using a voice recording, that voice recording file will be considered health information). Meanwhile, pseudonymised information refers to personal information that has been processed, such as deletion or replacement of certain parts, so that a specific

    South Asian Neighborhood Overall health Services

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    From Homer to Goethe a literal exploration about the lived encounter of people fleeing the horrors of their own counties, only to face the new horrors of fear and misunderstanding of other cultures. The Well being app lets you hold all your …

    South Asian Neighborhood Wellness Services

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    It will also open up greater portions of the nation to the positive aspects of ecotourism, lessen human-wildlife conflict in areas where there is currently competitors for grazing places and access to water, and contribute significantly to the wellness of human and wildlife populations as a whole. It was reassuring to speak to so many people who had not only heard …

    South Asian Community Overall health Services

    HealthOur guide to purchasing overall health insurance for 2015 walks you by means of how well being insurance functions and how to buy well being insurance plans under Obamacare. Simply because moles can detract from your look, you might personally feel it is a cosmetic option, but insurance coverage coverage will be based on regardless of whether the mole puts your health at threat. The three — Brandon Capital Partners, OneVentures Management and BioScience Managers — have all been tasked to choose and finance Australian commence-ups in well being and health-related investigation. Harmful effects should be reported online to FDA’s MedWatch plan or by phone at 800-FDA-1088 (800-332-1088) and to the consumer’s wellness care professional. Though you need to have minerals to preserve a healthy physique, these can be taken by consuming a healthy and balanced diet regime or by taking supplements.

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